Edwin h



(No Model.) E. H. GIBBS.

SUPPOSITORY.

No. 251,355. Patented Dec; 27,1881.

UNITED STATES EDIVIN H. GIBBS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SUPPOSITO RY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,355, dated December 27, 1881. Application filed February 28, 1881. (No model.)

' in the county of New York and State of New York, have made certain Improvements in Suppositories, of which the following is a specification.

It is well known that medicines introduced into the rectum are often as effective as curative agents as when they are taken into the stomach, and this method is free from many of the disadvantages of the other-such as nausea, griping, and general discomfort that most medicines cause. For these reasons suppositories are coming into very general use.

The object of this invention is to supply druggists and physicians with hollow suppositories that will keep for any length of time, and into which they can put any kind of medicine, thus preparing them for use in a few minutes when called for.

One of the greatest annoyances that a physician or druggist has to contend with in the ordinary course of his business is to put up a prescription that calls for suppositories. Unless he has become especially skilled in this branch of the business he will waste more material than the prescription will net him, and he will produce suppositories that are rough, crumbly, and unsightly, and through which the medicine is unequally distributed, if, in fact, he succeeds at all in incorporating it with the butter of cacao. To obviate these difficulties I have devised a hollow suppository, provided with a stopper, the whole being made of material adapted to be hermetically sealed, and, when used, to be melted by the heat of the body and absorbed without injurious effeet, for the purpose of introducing any suitable medicament into the body, the size and shape being varied to suit the purpose or cavi ty for which it is to be used.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a suppository of the preferred form for use in the rectum. Figs. 2 and 3 are perspective views of suppositories of larger size adapted for the application of medicines to the vagina or 0s uteri. Fig. 4 is a section showing the spherical suppository closed in readiness for application. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of a suppository adapted for application to the internal ear, the urethra,

or to the nasal or other small cavities.

My suppositories are molded in hollow form from pure butter of cacao, or other material adapted to be absorbed into the system and impart nourishment thereto without any injurious effect.

In each of the figures, A represents the body of the suppository formed with an aperture for the reception of the medicament to be placed therein, and B a stopper formed of the same material, and fitted to tightly close the aperture.

In use the suppositories A are nearly filled with the required medicine, (leaving room for the insertion of the stopper,) either alone or mixed with butter of cacao, vegetable oils, or other unobjectionable materials, as convenience or preference may dictate. This done, the stopper is taken on the point of a needle or penknife, and, after being slightly warmed, inserted in the aperture of the suppository, which it will hermetically seal in cooling; or the stopper may be inserted cold and the top rubbed with a warm knife or spatula until a portion of it is melted, so as to hermetically seal the joint. The suppositories are then put in a cool place, or are placed in ice-water to cool them, and are immediately ready for use. After application the warmth of the body melts the material of the suppository and releases the medicine, and the whole is absorbed.

I am aware that hollow suppositories without stoppers have before been used, the walls of such suppositories being of elastic material impregnated with thedesired medicament and sustained by an internal filling of fibrous material.

I am also well aware that capsules of gelatine are commonly used with covers, not, however, as suppositories, nor adapted, like my stoppered suppositories, to be hermetically closed by the simple application of heat.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- A stoppered hollow suppository formed of butter of cacao or analogous material and adapted to inclose and hold any desired medicement or nourishment and to be hermetically sealed by heat, substantially as set forth.

' EDWIN H. GIBBS. Witnesses CHAS S. STONE, WM. H. RIBLET. 

